East Side Portland Parks get Better

Earlier this month, Portland finished improving several east side parks, changing their rusty and dated equipment to bright, big play structures and soft surface ground, fixing up trails, and adding water fountains.

The newer, better parks are here, all east of Highway 205:

East Holladay Park at 12999 NE Holladay St.
The East Portland Community Center at 740 SE 106th Ave.
Gilbert Primary Park at SE 134th Ave.
Lynchwood Park at SE 170th Ave and Haig St.
Parklane Park at SE 155th Ave and Main St.

More parks that have been fixed up are:
Argay Park, Cherry Park, Ed Benedict Park, Glenfair Park, Midland Park, Ventura Park, and West Powellhurst Park.

In November 2011, Portland Parks and Recreation got the National Gold Medal Award for Excellence in Park and Recreation, given for the city's well-managed park system.

Use Portland's park finder to see which ones have the features you are looking for.

Portland Southeast Neighborhoods: Montavilla & Tabor

Mt. Tabor's volcano top features a green park

The area of Mt. Tabor encompasses the streets on or near Mt. Tabor itself, under their various names: Tabor, Taborside, Tabor West, North, or East. Montavilla is roughly bordered by Halsey in the North, a few blocks east of Hwy 205 in the East, Division in the South, and about 60th Avenue or so to the West.

Stark St and 80th looking NW in 1939

An inactive volcano, Mt. Tabor formed a minor physical barrier to the original developers of the late 1800s east side Portland, and Tabor hill was used mostly for winter tobogganing by the neighborhood kids for decades. Now the hill and all it's sides are built in, and chunks of the ancient volcano's dried lava innards end up in local yards.

Homes directly near or on Mt. Tabor tend to be more upscale than those found in Montavilla, and folks placed along the peripheries will claim to be in "Tabor," (Tabor Park, Taborside, East Tabor) regardless. The top of Mt. Tabor is set aside for a walkable park commemorating the volcano, and the homes built onto it's top and sides have some of the finest views in all of southeast side Portland. Some of these homes are from late 19th Century, while most were built in the mid-20th century and have a coastal/Hollywood feeling, making the most of the views from their extensive patios.

Stark Street in Montavilla feels like a 
vibrant small town mainstreet

Montavilla's homes are more diverse in size, condition, and upkeep than those of Tabor, yet Montavilla's great advantage is having a westward running "main street" (Stark Street), which lends the area the feeling of a small midwestern town. Right now it's amenities are all independently owned and designed businesses, reflecting the undiscovered and unexploited nature of Montavilla: the Country Cat, Ya Hala and Flying Pie Pizza restaurants provide the food, while the rest of Stark street hosts eclectic shops, antique stores, bars and coffeehouses, 
wellness and service businesses, among others, and the Academy Theatre.

Montavilla bungalow

Montavilla was once it's own separate town, and the most eastern one nearest to Portland. Though Portland has grown out way beyond the Highway at 205, Montavilla remains one of the few outer eastern areas with an actual neighborhood heart and a walkable center. 

A classic Montavilla 
house with porch

Homes here are a mixture of the decades of the 20th century, all mostly modest and small in scale: with one and two bedroom working class Edwardians, bungalows, Cape Cods, Tudors and ranch homes.

Retro Academy Theatre 
shows 2nd releases

Empty lots or scrapable houses continue to be filled in with new building, and large lots are often carved into sections, encouraging denser populations so close to Portland's center. Rentals are well represented. Some homes are placed along unimproved roads running east and west, linked to the paved numbered streets. These give the neighborhood an especially country-town-in-the-middle-of-the-city atmosphere, although these dirt streets are currently on track to be paved (without storm drains or sidewalks), under future improvement plans initiated by former Mayor Sam Adams.

The iconoclastic Bipartisan Cafe 

Montavilla also has it's own recreation center and a variety of parks nearby, and runs a warm season Farmer's Market the whole area supports and enjoys. This Portland neighborhood is ideally situated between the funky and eclectic Southeastern inner neighborhoods and the suburban box amenities east of Highway 205: it has the best of both worlds.

Every few years Montavilla is "discovered" as the next hip and walkable neighborhood, but it continues to hold on to it's independent hometown character, which is exactly what it's habitants like about it.